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Relief agencies are trying to help the thousands of people left homeless by the storm

Rescue workers are searching for more than 300 Filipino fishermen who have gone missing after a devastating typhoon that tore across the Philippines last week, killing more than 600 people, authorities said Monday.

Typhoon Bopha, the strongest tropical cyclone to hit the Philippines this year, set off flash floods and landslides that engulfed people sheltering in their rickety houses in remote, unprepared regions on the southern island of Mindanao.

The number of people still unaccounted for climbed sharply during the weekend as officials learned of the disappearance of boatloads of fishermen who set off before Typhoon Bopha slammed into the east coast of Mindanao on Tuesday.

Rescue efforts are under way to try to find the missing fishermen, many of whom left from the port city of General Santos on the south coast of Mindanao, said Maj. Reynaldo Balido, military assistant for operations at the Philippine Office of Civil Defense.

Deadly flooding in the Philippines 26 photos

Deadly flooding in the Philippines26 photos

Deadly flooding in the Philippines – Residents look at the lists of missing relatives displayed near the municipal hall in New Bataan, Compostela province on Wednesday, December 12, nearly one week after the southern part of the Philippines was hit by Typhoon Bopha. Bopha, the strongest cyclone to hit the Philippines in decades, has taken more than 700 lives and hundreds remain missing, the government said on December 11. The United Nations launched a $65 million global appeal on December 10 to help survivors.

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Deadly flooding in the Philippines26 photos

Deadly flooding in the Philippines – Philippine navy personnel arrange donated coffins aboard the BRP Laguna, which is set to transport relief supplies from a base in Cavite City, on Tuesday, December 11, in the aftermath of Typhoon Bopha.

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Deadly flooding in the Philippines26 photos

Deadly flooding in the Philippines – A woman stands next to her destroyed house in Boston, Davao Oriental province, on December 11.

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Deadly flooding in the Philippines26 photos

Deadly flooding in the Philippines – Uprooted coconut trees lay in the mountains of Cateel, Davao Oriental province, on December 11.

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Deadly flooding in the Philippines26 photos

Deadly flooding in the Philippines – Clothes hang next to destroyed houses and toppled trees in the town of Cateel, Davao Oriental province, on December 11.

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Deadly flooding in the Philippines26 photos

Deadly flooding in the Philippines – A resident stands on his destroyed house in Cateel on December 11.

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Deadly flooding in the Philippines – Victims of Typhoon Bopha jostle for position as they beg for relief food in New Bataan in Compostela Valley province on Sunday, December 9.

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Deadly flooding in the Philippines26 photos

Deadly flooding in the Philippines – Residents in New Bataan mourn near coffins of relatives who died during flash floods caused by Typhoon Bopha on Saturday, December 8.

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Deadly flooding in the Philippines – A resident sits next to coffins at the old market in New Bataan on December 8.

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Deadly flooding in the Philippines – A man feeds his children at an evacuation center for victims of Typhoon Bopha in the town of Maparat in Compostela Valley province on December 8.

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Deadly flooding in the Philippines26 photos

Deadly flooding in the Philippines – Typhoon Bopha toppled thousands of banana trees on a plantation in New Bataan, Compostela Valley province, in the Philippines on Friday, December 7.

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Deadly flooding in the Philippines – A crowd of Filipino flood victims wait for relief goods inside a sports complex that has been turned into a temporary evacuation center in New Bataan, Compostela Valley, on December 7.

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Deadly flooding in the Philippines – Residents queue up to receive relief goods from the government in the town of New Bataan, Philippines, on Thursday, December 6.

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Deadly flooding in the Philippines – A resident cuts branches of a toppled tree in Montevista, Philippines, on December 6. It fell onto his house at the height of Typhoon Bopha.

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Deadly flooding in the Philippines – Residents stand next to a vehicle washed up among debris along a river in New Bataan on December 6.

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Deadly flooding in the Philippines – A rescue worker carries an elderly resident across a surging river in New Bataan on December 6.

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Deadly flooding in the Philippines – Children retrieve a bicycle among boulders near destroyed houses in New Bataan on December 6.

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Deadly flooding in the Philippines – Philippine soldiers patrol New Bataan, in the Compostela Valley, Philippines, as they look for flood survivors on Wednesday, December 5.

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Deadly flooding in the Philippines – A worker surveys destroyed banana trees at a plantation in Montevista, Compostela Valley, on December 5.

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Deadly flooding in the Philippines – A woman sorts out clothes and belongings in front of her damaged house in Montevista on December 5.

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Deadly flooding in the Philippines – Residents cross a road destroyed at the height of Typhoon Bopha in the village of Andap, New Bataan township, Compostela Valley province on December 5.

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Deadly flooding in the Philippines – These boulders cascaded into New Bataan township. This picture was taken December 5.

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Deadly flooding in the Philippines – Residents clean their sofa next to their damaged house in New Bataan township on December 5.

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Deadly flooding in the Philippines26 photos

Deadly flooding in the Philippines – Red Cross volunteers assist a rescued child in New Bataan on December 5.

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Deadly flooding in the Philippines – Residents gather their belongings after their house was destroyed by strong winds brought about by the storm in Cagayan de Oro City, on the southern island of Mindanao, on Tuesday, December 4.

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Deadly flooding in the Philippines – Residents walk down a road covered in debris after the storm in New Bataan on December 5.

That includes the fishermen and more than 400 people in New Bataan, a town in southeastern Mindanao where flash floods triggered by Bopha's heavy rain buried large areas under mud, rocks and trees.

The overwhelming majority of the 647 people killed by the typhoon are from the regions of Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley, where New Bataan is situated.

Many people in those areas failed to anticipate Bopha, known locally as Pablo, the strongest storm to hit Mindanao in decades. The island experiences fewer tropical cyclones than the regions of the Philippines further north.

Survivors are now struggling to find enough water, food and shelter. Relief agencies are scrambling to provide help to the worst hit areas, but damage to infrastructure like roads and communications networks is complicating their task.

The scale of the challenge facing them is huge: nearly 1,500 people have been injured and more than 300,000 have been forced to seek shelter in evacuation centers or elsewhere.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, who visited New Bataan and other severely affected areas Friday, has declared a state of national calamity, which releases emergency funds and puts price controls on basic goods.